A Merry Little Christmas: 1225 Christmas Tree Lane / 5-B Poppy Lane

Rosie started into the dining room and paused in the doorway—underneath the mistletoe. Zach couldn’t have planned this better had he tried. He’d hung it there earlier and now, taking advantage of the opportunity, he slipped out of his chair and hurried toward his wife.

Rosie gave him an odd look as if she didn’t understand what he was doing.

“You’re standing under the mistletoe,” he told her.

Surprised, Rosie immediately looked up.

Taking her in his arms, he kissed her deeply, and with an exaggerated flourish bent her backward over his arm. He might be middle-aged, but he wasn’t dead yet and he loved his wife.

Anson and Allison hooted and cheered, but he didn’t need any encouragement.

“Zach.” Rosie was breathless by the time he released her.

So was he.

She planted her hand over her heart as though to slow its beat.

Zach winked at his son, who’d just joined them.

“I remember when we never used to see you and Mom kiss,” Eddie reminded them.

Disbelief on his face, Anson looked from Allison to Eddie.

“My parents were divorced for a while,” Allison explained. “I’m sure I told you.”

“You did, but…it’s hard to believe, seeing them now.”

Eddie pulled out a stool on Anson’s other side and propped his elbows on the counter. “It wasn’t a good year for our family, but it all turned out okay in the end.”

Anson shook his head incredulously.

“It was a long time ago,” Eddie said.

“Not that long,” Rosie countered.

“What happened?” Anson asked. “I mean, if you don’t mind talking about it.”

“Basically the divorce just didn’t work out for us,” Zach teased, his eyes meeting Rosie’s. That had been a difficult period in their marriage, but, as Eddie had said, it’d all turned out in the end, due in large part to…

“The judge…Well, she…” Rosie looked at her husband. “You tell them.”

“It was Judge Lockhart. That was her name back then. She’s Judge Griffin now. I think she could see that the divorce was a mistake for us, but she didn’t have any grounds for denying it the way she did with another couple we heard about.”

“Actually, I don’t think either of us would have accepted a denial. At the time, we were pretty much at loggerheads.”

That was putting it mildly, Zach thought, but kept quiet. No point in mentioning it.

“Mom and Dad wanted joint custody of Allison and me,” Eddie said. “If Judge Olivia okayed their parenting plan, it meant Allison and I would’ve had to change houses every few days. Three days with Dad, four days with Mom—that sort of thing.”

“They would’ve stayed in the same school district,” Rosie added. She closed the refrigerator and leaned against the kitchen counter, facing the three of them, all sitting at the breakfast bar. “Zach got an apartment a few miles from the house.”

“Judge Olivia told Mom and Dad they weren’t the ones who needed a stable life,” Allison went on to tell him. “Eddie and I were. The judge didn’t want us changing residences every few days, so she gave us the family home. Mom and Dad had to move in and out.”

“In other words,” Eddie said, “when Dad was with us, Mom stayed at his apartment, and vice versa.”

“Zach and I weren’t too keen on this plan,” Rosie inserted.

Anson grinned. “But apparently it worked.”

Zach had to agree. “I remember the night Allison and Eddie brought us together, arranging for us to have a romantic dinner here at the house.”

“Our parents needed our help,” Eddie said, smiling at his sister. “Actually, that was Allison’s idea and it was a good one.”

“It was indeed.” Zach reached across the counter to take Rosie’s hand. He raised it to his lips and kissed her fingers. “And I’m very grateful.”

“I am, too,” Rosie whispered.

“We owe the judge a big debt of thanks,” Allison said.

“And I owe you one,” Anson said in a low voice, his gaze connecting with hers. “You always had faith in me.”

“Oh, Anson, I had my moments. I so badly wanted to believe you didn’t have anything to do with the fire that burned down the Lighthouse restaurant.”

“The evidence was damning,” he said, frowning slightly. “I couldn’t blame you for doubting me.”

“When I learned you’d been at the restaurant that night, and then later, when your mother told me you’d started a number of small fires when you were a kid, my faith wavered.”

“Mine would have, too.” Again Anson came to her defense. “I looked guilty as sin. I can’t blame you, Allie.”

“Luckily you saw the man who really started the fire and were able to identify him.”

Zach had played a role in determining that Warren Saget, a local builder, was the arsonist. Teaming up with Sheriff Troy Davis, Zach had convinced Anson to come forward and speak to the authorities.

“If it wasn’t for your dad, I might still be on the run,” Anson said. “Your family’s been a lifeline to me,” he continued. “Mrs. Cox, Rosie, you’ve been more of a mother to me than my own. I know Cherry loves me in her way. She never counted on being a single mother, and she didn’t have the greatest role model herself. She does the best she can.”

Zach admired Anson for defending his mother. He didn’t question that she loved her son. Unfortunately, Cherry’s life had been a long series of low-paying jobs and living with ne’er-do-wells who used and abused her. Anson had been instructed to refer to these men as “uncle,” none of them ever being a father figure of any kind. His father had left Cherry as soon as he discovered she was pregnant. Turned out he already had a wife and family.

“Are we going to play bingo?” Eddie asked, straightening. “It’s tradition, you know.” He nudged Anson as he said that, and Anson elbowed him back.

“Why don’t we set it up while Allison and your mother finish getting dinner ready,” Zach suggested. He slid off the stool and headed into the living room. He didn’t recall how Christmas Eve bingo had begun, but the kids couldn’t have been more than eight and ten. He thought Rosie’s parents might’ve started it and that Rosie had carried it on, since she was big on traditions.

In the living room, Zach took out the game. He handed the cards to Anson to arrange, while Eddie gathered up the small prizes and placed them on the coffee table.

“If you have a few minutes I’d like to speak to you privately,” Anson said, sitting next to Zach on the sofa.

Eddie picked up on the “private” part right away and excused himself, mumbling that he needed to make a phone call.

Anson waited until Eddie had left the room. “What I said earlier about you and Mrs. Cox being more of a family to me than my own? I meant that.”